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If you love Chinese takeout, this Chicken Lo Mein recipe is for you. Easy and quick to make (requires only 25 minutes of your precious time), it makes a perfect healthy weeknight dinner!
Let me start by saying that I am not a huge fan of take-out food. I grab it few times a month and that's pretty much it. Actually, I kind of like it, but my wife is a fantastic cook and I love cooking myself too, so we always end up preparing something at home. However, when we do order stuff, in most cases it's from our favorite Chinese place. The taste of their stir-fries, soups, dumplings, spring rolls, and other culinary creations is crazy good and I can't resist it!
BUT. Being huge culinary enthusiasts, we decided that even this awesome place is not worth ordering from, because we can replicate all their dishes at home. Oh well. You can call us crazy and I won't even deny it. Just chill on the couch, watch some TV, relax after a long day of work and games with your baby, and order some Chinese takeout... A perfect evening, right? Not for us, the fanatical couple. We will rather stay in the kitchen until wee hours cooking stuff and then eating it in the middle of the night. Maybe someday it will change, ha ha!
Yesterday we made this fantastic Chicken Lo Mein. It's one of our Chinese take-out favorites, so we were excited to replicate it in our kitchen. Lo mein is a Cantonese term meaning stirred noodles. Basically, it's a stir-fry featuring egg noodles, chicken (or any meat you like), marinated in soy sauce and vinegar, and a bunch of veggies.
Every single chicken lo mein recipe I found uses a different set of veggies, meaning you can throw in whatever you like. The most popular options are bok choy (Chinese cabbage), carrots, scallions, broccoli, snow peas, bell peppers, celery. Some recipes also add mushrooms to the mix.
The result exceeded our highest expectations. I would even dare to say that it was better than the original chicken lo mein from our favorite place... And it's so easy and quick to make! You should spend less than 30 minutes in the kitchen. Plus it's easy to customize: you can change the meat, the veggies, or even add something like mushrooms or whatever you like.
That's what I call a perfect weeknight dinner. After such a success I plan to recreate more take-out dishes in the nearest future. As the proverb popular in my country says, "it is good everywhere, but it is the best at home."
Combine 2 tablespoons soy sauce, rice vinegar, and 2 teaspoons sugar in a medium bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Let marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature.
Cook the noodles according to package directions and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the broth, cornstarch, remaining 4 tablespoons soy sauce, and remaining 2 teaspoons sugar. Set aside.
In a wok or a large skillet, heat the vegetable and sesame oil. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring. Add the carrot, bell pepper, celery and cook for 2-3 minutes more, stirring. Remove the veggies from a skillet.
Drain the chicken, discarding the marinade, and add it to the same wok / skillet. Add more oil, if necessary, and cook for 3-4 minutes until no longer pink. Stir in the broth based sauce and cook, stirring, until thickened. Add the cooked noodles and prepared veggies. Toss the mixture using two spatulas until combined. Serve sprinkled with some chopped scallions over the top. Enjoy!
The secret behind the delicious Chinese takeaway plain noodles is the' Msg '. So if you wish to taste your chow mein like takeaway, you will need to add msg or chicken powder. Vegetable/vegetarian seasoning powder can be also used.
Most commonly, lo mein involves chicken, beef, pork, turkey, shrimp or tofu. Sauce components: Lo mein sauce is mainly composed of sesame oil, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, garlic, ginger, oyster sauce and a dash of sugar. If you like your noodles to have a little heat, you can sprinkle in some red pepper flakes.
The sauce is what makes this dish so addictive. It's a simple umami filled mix of light and dark soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sugar, and a hint of ginger. It's super easy to make a batch of lo mein sauce and keep it in the fridge so you can easily make lo mein whenever the craving hits.
Lo mein typically uses fresh noodles, while chow mein can be made with fresh or dried. Lo mein noodles are typically thick and chewy. Stir-fried noodles in chow mein are thinner and cooked to a golden crisp.
It is egg noodles but you need to buy it from the oriental supermarket. I think it's probably the flavourings that you add - or don't add - to the noodles that make the difference. On the advice of a Chinese friend, I boil mine in fast boiling, salted water for 4 minutes - using 2 forks to separate them.
Temperature plays an important role in the taste of a dish. “There is a way to prepare Chinese food at home. Get all the ingredients ready, let the pan get super hot and then add one ingredient after the other quickly in the pan. The food prepare this way, I guarantee, will have a restaurant-like taste,” said the chef.
This chicken lo mein recipe yields juicy chicken, crisp peppers, tender napa cabbage, and thick, chewy noodles tossed in a rich savory brown sauce that is extra fragrant. Make your favorite Chinese takeout dish without a wok and it will taste just as great as the restaurant version!
Soy sauce has been used in Chinese cooking for over 1,000 years. This classic dipping sauce is a staple in Chinese restaurants, as it is served with dim sum dishes and is used together with vinegar, ginger, and chili oil.
You want to buy an egg noodle or pasta that's relatively thin and has some tooth. Some common names will be lo mein, chow mein, egg noodles or pancit noodles. Most markets have Japanese yaki soba noodles in the cold case, and those would work perfectly.
Cornstarch! In his book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman recommends mixing 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with the same amount of water, and tossing this into the stir fry just when it's almost done. It thickens in seconds, picking up the flavors of everything already in the dish and coating evenly.
This mound of noodles has about half the carbohydrates you need all day. The noodles are made from white flour, which raises your blood sugar faster than fiber-rich whole grains. Plus, they're cooked with oil and soy sauce, so you get extra fat and sodium. Can't pass it up?
In general, lo mein is typically considered healthier than chow mein. This is because the noodles are not fried, so there is less fat and less saturated fat.
“Lo mein usually uses the fat, chewy noodles, while chow mein uses the thin type of noodles that sometimes contain egg.” Lo mein uses fresh noodles that are boiled for a few minutes, while chow mein uses dried noodles that are parboiled for five to six minutes. Then there's the difference in cooking method.
Asian noodles can be made with rice, yam, and mung bean in addition to wheat flour, and even that wheat is a different variety than the durum wheat used in pasta. All of these differences in texture and flavor mean you usually can't substitute an Italian pasta for an Asian noodle.
Chinese cuisine often incorporates vinegar for several reasons, including its ability to enhance flavors, balance the taste profile of a dish, and offer various health benefits.
Introduction: My name is Eusebia Nader, I am a encouraging, brainy, lively, nice, famous, healthy, clever person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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